The Supreme Court has asked Tamil Nadu to ensure that water level of the Mullaperiyar Dam does not exceed 136 feet but declined to entertain Kerala’s plea for reducing the level to 120 feet. File photo

The Hindu

Members of Indian Reserve Battalion stand guard at the Kumily check post on the Kerala-Tamil Nadu border on Tuesday. (Bottom) A view of the Mullaperiyar Dam. Photos: H. Vibhu

"Panel looking into all aspects of safety of dam"

There is nothing serious, grave or emergent about the safety of the Mullaperiyar dam warranting our interference at this stage, the Supreme Court observed on Tuesday and asked Tamil Nadu and Kerala not to arouse people's feelings and create a fear psychosis.

The Empowered Committee, headed by the former Chief Justice of India, A.S. Anand, was looking into all aspects regarding the safety of the dam and no order was required at this stage, observed a five-judge Constitution Bench comprising Justices D.K. Jain, R.M. Lodha, C.K. Prasad, Deepak Verma and Anil R. Dave.

The Bench, however, said the apprehensions of Kerala regarding the safety of the dam could not be brushed aside since the water level in the dam had gone up beyond 136 ft on four days from November 26 to December 2, coupled with earthquakes.

Rejecting arguments of senior counsel Raju Ramachandran, appearing for Tamil Nadu, that Kerala was creating fear psychosis and Tamil Nadu wanted to allay the apprehensions, Justice Jain said: “You can't say these apprehensions have no basis. Why did you [Tamil Nadu] allow the water level to go beyond 136 ft when our status quo order is in operation. You are obliged to ensure that the water level is maintained at 136 ft. May be the increase in water level, coupled with earthquakes is a cause of concern to Kerala.”

The Bench made it clear to Tamil Nadu that it should maintain the water level at 136 ft.

Mr. Ramachandran said there was a self-correcting mechanism. The sluices were kept open and water beyond 136 ft would automatically spill over; whether the level went beyond 136 ft on four days as claimed by Kerala had to be verified.

The Bench was hearing applications filed by Kerala, to reduce the water level in the dam from 136 ft to 120 ft, and Tamil Nadu for deployment of CISF for protection of the dam and to pass an order to restrain Kerala Ministers and officials from making statements creating fear psychosis among the people about the safety of the dam.

While dismissing as not pressed Kerala's application, Justice Jain told senior counsel P.P. Rao, appearing for Kerala: “The whole gamut of the controversy is before the empowered committee. The fact that the committee has decided to inspect the dam shows it is seized of the matter.”

Justice Lodha supplemented Justice Jain saying “if the situation is so grave and serious, the committee would have sought our intervention and sought an order from us. It shows that the situation at the ground level is not that grave as projected by you [Kerala].There is nothing serious or grave which requires modification in the order. Let the committee go into all aspects and submit its report to the court. We will not pass any order or give any direction now.”

Mr. Rao replied that the apprehensions “are genuine and not fanciful as made out to be.” Justice Lodha regretted that both the parties, instead of dousing the fire, were adding fuel to it.”

Hi I'm Raju from Malaysia. Now why is it that we Indians are fighting each other. So simple issue but you still need United Nation to solve the water problem. Once India was a huge land but all got broke up right from the north to the south.
If you guys gona fight each other than ur neighbouring countries are gona rip u off. So sad to see u useless guys fighting for water which was given by god as natural resources.
All countries are corrupted but not like our motherland India. So sad to see all these nonsence happening in the holly land where the Bagawan first originated & resided. You people simply do not know or understand the value of your holly land. Well I strongly belive that there will be a major disaster happen in the near future to clean the humans sinfull acts which damage the entire world.

from:
Raju Malaysia

Posted on: Dec 18, 2011 at 22:05 IST

Some idiot questioned the engineering wisdom of judges of supreme court. Both Kerala and Tamilnadu presented their parts and the apex court went through the expert committee findings to judge which is correct. They found the unfounded but hypochondriac fears of kerala.The whole problem was created by Karunakaran, the land and timber mafia chief of Kerala who was eyeing for the eight thousand acres used for water storage. Declaring entire idukki district as quake prone, Kerala is telling it is going to build a fresh dam. Where, in the same quake prone area. Is it not wise for Kerala to supplement and make the mullaiperiyar more strong. If at all any disaster causing flooding, it can be only due to idukki dam burst which is more quake prone and at lesser MSL than Mullai periyar. The dam 999 is a film relating to the bursting of weak quake prone idukki dam flooding all places down stream, JALA SAMADHI for 35 lakh peoeple. Oomen will be keep wringing his hands, unable to save his people.

from:
adithyan

Posted on: Dec 17, 2011 at 10:44 IST

As this is an issue of both states a mutual talking is important in between Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Supreme Court also has to act by considering the Dam as an issue between life and lively hoods. Tamil Nadu is demanding for water Kerala is ready to give the same amount of water. So the safety of the Dam is the issue. This is the ideal time for a new Dam. Don’t waste the time. Don’t play with the lives and lively hoods of people.

from:
Anish.M.R

Posted on: Dec 16, 2011 at 15:29 IST

MULLAIPPERIYARU DAM: The Keralites argue that the Mullaiperiyaru dam 1) is 116 years old and hence unsafe 2)is in an area where Earthquakes take place 3)will endanger the lives of 40 lakhs of keralites in the event of its breaking. 1. Because it is 116 years old does not make it unsafe – the Grand Anicut built about 1700 years back is a case in point. It is a “Gravity” dam, meaning it withstands the force exerted by the water by its sheer weight, not because of any structural design or reinforcement. The dam has been strengthened further by giving it a concrete ”cap” adding a weight of nearly 3000 tonne per meter of length. It has further been given strengthened by adding concrete pillars / columns driven into the rocks below the dam. Apart from these, an additional wall has been constructed to support the dam. Considering the renewals it has gone through, the dam is hardly 30 years old, not 116. 2.It is not in an earthquake prone area as the keralites think. In fact, if the Mullaiperiyaru dam is weakened because of earthquakes, so will the present Idukki Dam and the to-be-constructed “new Dam”. If a new dam can be constructed to withstand the quakes, so can the present dam be strengthened. 3. Assuming that someday the mullaiperiyaru dam breaks, it will discharge less than 10 tmc. Of water which will flow between two mountains into the storage area of the Idukki dam which is 50 km down. The idukki dam has a storage capacity of 70 tmc and has never so far stored more than 35 tmc, leaving 35 tmc capacity vacant. There are hardly 400 people living in the forests in the way the flood waters may flow, and a gravity dam, which breaks will give more than 4 hours’ time to warn them so that they can move to higher levels or to evacuate them. It is hence obvious that the bogey of the dam breaking and killing 3 million people is hocus-pocus and politically motivated. The keralites do not realise that the waters from mullaiperiyaru irrigate lakhs of acres in tamilnadu which supply all essential food to the keralites (rice, vegetables, milk, etc.). They should also realise that there are 30 lakhs of keralites living in tamilnadu and consuming the resources as against 10 lakhs of tamilians living in kerala. If keralites boast that they supply water to tamilnadu, they should be prepared to starve to death because once tamilnadu closes all its roadways to kerala, then they will have to get their supplies only through Karnataka or by ship / air. Not only that, with roads blocked, there will be no industry in kerala. Let us hope the keralite people do not fall prey to the lies their politicians are feeding them.

from:
sbala

Posted on: Dec 15, 2011 at 13:46 IST

The main purpose of water to TN is not electricity but its the life line for the people in southern district of TN else famine would struck at these areas (already we hear many facts of farmers dieing). Easy to say to leave aside the politics and bring up a solution to both TN and kerala but govt should take the right steps to tackle this situation both emotionally and scientifically.

from:
jerry

Posted on: Dec 14, 2011 at 23:29 IST

TamilNadu's Kudankulam reactor is quite safe. Majority of people in TN support it. Politicians' have a hidden agenda in activating violence against the project, but the project will surely start at some point later. Similarly, Mullaiperiyar dam is quite safe too, to store water upto 142 feet or even more. But, their politicians have a hidden agenda too. People there are blindly mis-guided by their politicians. Even if the dam breaks, the water will safely move to Idukki dam - takes 3 hrs to reach there. Even if Idukki (having 7 times larger capacity than Mullaiperiyar) is full, water can be slowly released during the 3hr period. Mullaiperiyar has been strengthened in 1979, and added support to previously existing structure - strengthening took place as various measures. A new wall on either side of the original structure.

from:
VP

Posted on: Dec 14, 2011 at 23:09 IST

It is realy heart breaking that Tamil politicians and political controled medias are literally provoking people for a war against Kerala. Is there no value for fear and anxity of people who living on the other side. What is central goverment doing overthere.

from:
Sumesh

Posted on: Dec 14, 2011 at 20:32 IST

Mr. Nasar, the Hon'ble SC delivered a judgement to keep the water level of the dam to 136 feet. But what happened? Whether the Kerala govt. obeyed the verdict of Hon'ble SC? Rather, it passed a resolution in the assembly against the verdict of Hon'ble SC. The expert committee of the Hon'ble SC has confirmed that the dame is strong. The engineers of Tamilnadu have strengthened the dam in several times. It is the fact that there is no adequate water supply in Idukki dam and subsequently the production of electricity has come to a halt. That is why, the Cong. and CPI and all other political parties gathered in one line in Kerala in spreading over the rumour among the Keralites that the dam is in danger. It is nothing but a political gimmick of Kerala.

from:
P. Sugumar

Posted on: Dec 14, 2011 at 20:00 IST

If kerala government had accepted the supreme court verdict in 2006 and called for negotiation for an amicable settlement thereafter,we would have accepted and believed you.Instead you dared to defy the verdict by passing a bill in state assembly and remained silent for 5 years thereafter.Now you have woken up from deep slumbre and ask for negotiations and outside the court settlement,that too at this tiome when the final verdict of supreme court is expected,we get suspicious about your intentions in the dam issue.Kerala has lost all it's credibility and trust.Even if the final verdict goes against Tamilnadu,we will accept it.We have technology to even convert the sea water into potable water through desalination plants,already two are installed and some more are in the pipeline and we have the capability,capital,technology and entrepruenership to install more such plants and remain self sufficient in our food security.

from:
S.Venugopal

Posted on: Dec 14, 2011 at 19:00 IST

Water for Tamil Nadu and Safety for Kerala.
Why the TN govt reluctant to this stand?
Please understand the factual data and not the propognada from Tamil media and politicians.
Water is gving to Tamilnadu since centuaries with less price and TN is making electricty and selling for high price!
is this is a reality??
Tamily Nadu Govt and Kerala govt were mutually agreed for a New Dam in 1979?
please approch with reasonobale soultion and dont approach with emotions.

from:
Nasar VKT UAE Abu Dhabi .

Posted on: Dec 14, 2011 at 17:26 IST

Water is very sacred. It is not anyones property. It is for those who are thirsty and for fields which require cultivation. Kerala, even in their wildest imagination should not use it as a bargaining chip. But of course if electricity is made out of the water then it should be appropriately shared. Life is even more sacred and God given. Nobody has the right to knowingly put anbody at risk of injury or death. All men have their concerns and it is up to the political leaders to address them rationally. Politicians should desist from making mileage over such an issue.

from:
Abraham Kurien

Posted on: Dec 14, 2011 at 17:14 IST

" Oh..how these intellectuals of India delight in pettifogging and quibbling is obvious from various comments. To expect otherwise, namely less talk and more elbow-grease, from a nation of motor mouths is contrary and incongruent to their wonted national character.

Let us recall what Winston Churchill averred on India getting Independence:. "Power will go to the hands of rascals, rogues, freebooters; all Indian leaders will be of low caliber men of straw. They will have sweet tongues & silly hearts. They will fight amongst themselves for power and India will be lost in political squabbles. A day would come when even air and WATER WOULD BE TAXED IN INDIA" . Looks like we have reached the point already,;the SC will now tell the States to SELL WATER or GO TO HELL.

from:
Joseph Christie

Posted on: Dec 14, 2011 at 16:47 IST

The court had regretted that the two states instead of dousing the fire are only adding fuel to the fire.It is true that the fire engines in both states had only fuel in their units.May be they have not used water since the fight is all about water from the DAM in the dispute. the readers are also wondering why the court has not specified what is the FIRE in this issue.The court has handled the case in detail before and passed judgment.It could have indicated then itself to put out the fire.But there were sum sparks which has become a big fire. We hope the court and the central government should act for dousing the fire completely so that any amount of fuel used by the states would work in future.

from:
doodu

Posted on: Dec 14, 2011 at 14:56 IST

Tamil Nadu's fear of losing control of water is real. So is Kerala's fear of a dam burst. The solution is to build a new dam but with a guarantee by Kerala to Govt of India and Supreme court, about regular water supply. A dam break, at some point in the future, would put TN in too much of a disadvantage. How long can one repair a Land Master or Morris Minor? TN will have to take all blame from world wide including US and UN and it will lose all right to demand any water from a future dam. In fact, perhaps it is a tactical mistake on the part of Kerala to demand a new dam now. This will break, anyway, some day.

from:
BJ Krishnan

Posted on: Dec 14, 2011 at 14:25 IST

Dear keralites,if you people think that Mullaiperiyar dam is to be demolished as it is 116 years old,then you will have to demolish all structures in kerala which are more than 116 years old including your temples,churches and mosques.Can you please tell me who has issued the life certificate of 50 years in respect of Mullaiperiyar dam?I hope it is not Mr.Benny Kuick,British engineer who has constructed the dam.

from:
S.Venugopal

Posted on: Dec 14, 2011 at 13:26 IST

SC has given blows to both TN and Kerala. Accept that and both Govts should discuss and close the matter. Since this looks like a distanct dream, under SC supervision foreign consultants can be used to check the strength of the dam (for impartial findings) . As stressed by SC safety of people is more important.

from:
Anup

Posted on: Dec 14, 2011 at 12:34 IST

Still cannot believe that some ppl are calling the observations of the constitutional bench of the SC as a victory for Tamilnadu. Fist- the court came down heavily on Tamilnadu for taking out an ad in some of the national newspapers, for having some references to an earlier order of the SC. Secondly, it rubbished the claim of the counsel appearing for TN, that politicians of Kerala are creating a "fear psychosis". Further it also did not allow the main prayer of TN to deploy CISF at the site of the dam. So if anything, it is atleast small set back for TN.

from:
Deepu Jacob

Posted on: Dec 14, 2011 at 12:16 IST

Kerala is giving water to Tamilnadu through many projects and Mullaperiyar is just one of them perhaps much more than any other states in India. It never been halted at any point of time so the claim like new dam means no water to Tamilnadu is completely baseless but rather Tamilnadu is more worried about the losing the advantages they are having because of century old contract created in British time. Tamilnadu is giving 30 million INR to Karnataka for 1 TMC / year but to Kerala just 40,000 INR. Kerala cannot stop giving water to Tamilnadu because most of the vegetables, fruits and diary items coming from Tamilnadu and water scarcity in Tamilnadu will badly affect Kerala as well.

from:
Andrews T.A.

Posted on: Dec 14, 2011 at 12:11 IST

Now the Politicians from both the states should stop politicizing this issue.. Now its the turn of the people from both the states to tell we love u and we can talk peacefully to find a solution. hope they will do that..

from:
S J Mathew

Posted on: Dec 14, 2011 at 11:54 IST

The real issue is Kerala is unnecessarily whipping up passion. The dam is perfectly safe and this was technically proved in the Supreme Court and Court judgement has recorded it and allowed to raise the dam height from 136 ft to 142 feet. The 999 year lease is not for dam but for 8000 acre which TN has got from then travankore Govt. Kerala has not produced a single convincing document to prove that dam is unsafe technically. They are playing politics that if dam collapses lakhs would be killed. The river runs in a deep valley and the 60 km downstream Idukki arch dam has 70 TMC capacity. Even if dam breaks (it will never as there is a water escape route through shutters which would allow a discharge of more than one lakh cusec of water which has never been realised in the 116 year dam history!)the river can pretty well carry the discharge and water can be accommodated in Idukki dam which has 11 times the capacity of MP dam(MP dam currently holds only 6 TMC water). If MP Dam is unsafe in

from:
Muralidharan

Posted on: Dec 14, 2011 at 11:31 IST

If Kerala and TN were together as a State, there would not have been much dispute about a new dam if there were such concerns about the safety of the dam. But it is not so and never be so in future. TN is always thinking that they are always going to lose if the issue is discussed or a new dam is constructed. It is the fear of losing water alone and the lack of openness where the demands differ. Moreover, in TN there is a definite competition on gaining political mileage. In Kerala it is not so, whatever be the deeds of a Govt during their tenure, the other party will come into power in the next election and they are not actually bothered about the majority. SOONER OR LATER A NEW DAM IS THE ONLY SOLUTION,WE SHOULD COME TO IT AND IT IS ALWAYS BETTER THAT IT IS THROUGH A MUTUAL UNDERSTANDING.

from:
SHAJI

Posted on: Dec 14, 2011 at 11:21 IST

The verdict from the Supreme Court has positive and negative impacts. Any way this is unfortunate that Supreme Court did not find any seriousness in Kerala's request to reduce the water level to 120 ft. It has already been confirmed by the Technical Experts that maintaining water level at 136 ft. in Mullperiyar Dam will cause further tremors in the adjacent regions of Dam. Also pointed out that Dam is the main reason for frequent tremors happening there. Any way, possibility of mishap in these regions cannot be ruled out. If both states are rigid in their stance, It is the prime responsibility of Central Government to genuinely intervene in this critical situation and should implement a Central Legislation in this grave matter. There are lot of dams in India have already been completed their life span. If Government decides that, a dam's life span is 70 years, it has to be decommissioned, if it is completed its life span, Likewise all dams in India should be decommissioned.

from:
Rajendran Chandrasekharan Nair

Posted on: Dec 14, 2011 at 11:17 IST

Do agree that the Court need a technical analysis report to reach a proper verdict. There are several key issues with the Dam any person with engineering background or commonsense will agree: 1. The Dam is very old, way pass its life expectancy. 2. The materials used are way far inferior by several times. 3. Cracks have developed and they are not addressed properly in time; which itself is not easy or almost impossible to address. 4. Once you take into account seismic loadings, whatever safety factor taken into the design at the time of construction has gone down the drain. Meaning the Dam will fail (no may be) even if it is new if there is an earth quake in the area let say around victor scale 6; it is tremendous amount of lateral load.
I am not a structural engineer; but I have designed mechanical systems to withstand seismic loads and were installed in a site that was hit with an earthquake closer to 8.

from:
RAJAN

Posted on: Dec 14, 2011 at 11:10 IST

As far as accountability goes, will the Supreme Court Justices who were seemingly "not worried about the safety of Mullaperiyar Dam at this stage" resign in the event something untoward were to happen ? After all, if their judgement call leads to lose of people's life that is the least expected of them .

from:
Jayakrishnan Rajendran

Posted on: Dec 14, 2011 at 10:53 IST

Its very disgusting on the part of the politicians to play havoc with a simple of issue of sharing river water and safeguarding a dam, for their own benefit they have created animosity between the people of two states, god alone can save this country. Such kind of disputes should be settled only by the courts and powers to nulify court orders by state lesiglatures should be removed. Politicians calling for bandh or hartal on these kind of emotive issues should be jailed for instigating people as these calls goes against the principles of the Union of India and will break up our country.

from:
xavier surender

Posted on: Dec 14, 2011 at 10:38 IST

Now, It is clear What is going on in Kerala. "It shows that the situation at the ground level is not that grave as projected by you [Kerala]"

from:
joshva raj

Posted on: Dec 14, 2011 at 10:05 IST

> "The Empowered Committee, headed by the former Chief Justice of India, A.S. Anand, was looking into all aspects regarding the safety of the dam". I wonder what retired judges of the Supreme Court know about civil engineering.

from:
Rajbir Bhattacharjee

Posted on: Dec 14, 2011 at 09:59 IST

SC judgement is the only option for this issue. people should accept their judgement

from:
stephen

Posted on: Dec 14, 2011 at 09:37 IST

I guess both Tamil Nadu and Kerala politicians are sensationalizing this issue only for their own political benefit. Instead of waiting for the Panel's decision, Political parties are creating havoc among people by spreading false rumors. People of both the states must understand that they're not going to achieve anything by making protests, fasts, violence acts, etc.,

from:
Sriraman Sridharan

Posted on: Dec 14, 2011 at 09:10 IST

The Supreme Court is right in calling both the Kerala and Tamil Nadu government not to arouse peoples feelings. The issue has been politicized. The issue is blown out politically with both the governments unable to find an immediate solution to bring the issue back to normalcy. Both the governments should come to the negotiating table and sort out the differences amicably without politicizing the issue.

from:
SRAVANA RAMACHANDRAN

Posted on: Dec 14, 2011 at 09:06 IST

Mullaperiyar river has been flowing quietly for 116 years helping both TN and Kerala.The storm broke out only after SC judgment in 2006 to raise the water level to 142.So many devices were invented to sabotage the SC order. In a hurriedly convened Assembly an ordinance was passed to nullify the SC order. Then started the orchestrated propaganda of dam safety and alleged earthquakes. For one thing, Kerala does not have a reliable mechanism to measure any earthquake on the Richter scale. For another, the Seismic Map of India produced authoritatively be seismic experts do not show Mullaperiyar on seismic zone.It is quite transparent from these facts that the bogey of earthquake was deliberately raised after 116 years to create a fear psychosis so that the existing dam can be demolished and a new one constructed.Secret agenda of new dam is not to give water to TN. But SC statement that there is nothing serious, grave or emergent about the safety of the dam seals the fate of the new dam.

from:
P.Radhakrishnan

Posted on: Dec 14, 2011 at 08:28 IST

It is unfortunate that even the Rio de Janeiro convention cited by Justice V. R. Krishna Iyer has not come to Kerala's rescue. Kerala should not bring politics into the matter. Instead it should immediately take steps to save the lives and property of the people in the unfortunate event of a dam brake.We should realise that Supreme Court is also equally concerned about the lives of people living on this side of the dam.

from:
K. C. Nair

Posted on: Dec 14, 2011 at 08:16 IST

Your article,Supreme Court tells,was a intersting to read.The Present issue on MullaiPeriyar dam ,should be sorted out between TamilNad and Kerala state only.Both the States should respect their People's wish,should not fight.India is a Vast country Comprising of Many states with different religon and Culturein one Umbrella Secular.People should through away the Regionalism feelings ,look the real issue.Tamilnad contributing Many items including food to Kerala,viz versa from Kerala.Both the Chief Ministers should sit ,have a Peaceful dialoque to solve this on going crisis.People travelling Both states should be Protected.

from:
K.Ragavan

Posted on: Dec 14, 2011 at 07:37 IST

The apex court has correctly advised the states to keep their mouths shut and not instigate its citizens.

from:
P.Tauro

Posted on: Dec 14, 2011 at 07:27 IST

The TN government is totally illogical. While supporting the closure of Kudankulam nuclear power plant on the fear there MAY be an accident,they are notn ready to accept Kerala's fears of the dam bursting.Let the experts decide the issue and untilol then both the states should observe silence.

from:
S N Iyer

Posted on: Dec 14, 2011 at 07:05 IST

"D.K. Jain, R.M. Lodha, C.K. Prasad, Deepak Verma and Anil R. Dave and
former Chief Justice of India, A.S. Anand" , are all men from different corners of the Indian subcontinent, who , most probably, have never been to the boondocks in Kerala and Tamil Nadu , and who , probably do not have an iota of engineering and scientific expertise and knowledge have the gumption to certify the safety of a dam built by the British more than eight score years ago !